When 74% of Americans are on Social Media, it is not surprising that political campaigns use them strategically to create a desirable public image, attack opponents and, of course, engage supporters in ways that are aligned to their goals. Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook enable campaigns to reach a broader audience and communicate with supporters in their digital habitat. In this context, engaging supporters is key for a successful social media strategy. In fact, social media can be especially advantageous for candidates seeking to mobilize supporters to get involved with the campaign.

The central function of political campaigns is to give voters the information they need to pick a candidate who will best represent their interests. When campaigns were held in the 1980s and 1990s, the public relied on the news media to learn about the candidates, and they heard from the candidates directly through paid television, print, and radio advertising and mail fliers. Today, the public is getting more of their information from the election via social media than ever before, according to a new Pew Research Center study.
The question is: what is the public learning? Are they getting the issue and policy positions of the candidates that they need so that they can make an informed decision, or are they getting self-aggrandizement and claims about how great the candidate is as a person, leader, or family member?

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy June 15, 2015, few people could believe that the real estate mogul was actually capable of winning the Republican nomination against some of the party's strongest names. Journalists and political analysts remained skeptical about Trump's strategy that seemed largely based on insults and catchphrases with little substance and virtually no clear stance around the issues - with the exception of his immigration policy based on building a wall in the Mexican border, racist remarks and a few claims around National security and foreign relations.

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Illuminating 2016 is supported by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and the Center for Computational and Data Sciences at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.